What is a conditional settlement?

The conditional settlement is set out in section 67a of the Criminal Procedure Law. It is intended for relatively minor offences: misdemeanours, and certain specified felonies. The central condition: no criminal record in the five years before the offence. The prosecution offers it when it believes there is enough evidence to indict, but that the public interest can be served with less.

How it works: you admit the facts described in the settlement and undertake to meet conditions. Common conditions: a payment to the state treasury, compensation to the complainant, an undertaking not to offend, repairing the damage, or treatment. Once the conditions are met, the file is closed on the ground of "closure by settlement". No indictment, no trial, no conviction. If the conditions are not met, the prosecution may file an indictment.

What to weigh: a conditional settlement saves a trial, but it includes an admission, and the file remains in the internal register of closed files (not the criminal record). For someone with a weak case against them, a settlement can be an unnecessary concession compared with closure for lack of evidence. For someone facing clear evidence, it can be a way to end the matter without a conviction.

What a lawyer does: checks whether the file really justifies an indictment, negotiates the facts and the conditions (amount, compensation, length of the undertaking), and in suitable cases approaches the prosecution first and asks for a settlement instead of an indictment.

Source in law: Criminal Procedure Law [Consolidated Version], 5742-1982, section 67a